To Fix Or To Heal

Do doctors fix patients? Or do they heal them? For all of modern medicine’s many successes, discontent with the quality of patient care has combined with a host of new developments, from aging populations to the resurgence of infectious diseases, which challenge medicine’s overreliance on narrowly mechanistic and technical methods of explanation and intervention, or “fixing’ patients. The need for a better balance, for more humane “healing” rationales and practices that attend to the social and environmental aspects of health and illness and the experiencing person, is more urgent than ever. Yet, in public health and bioethics, the fields best positioned to offer countervailing values and orientations, the dominant approaches largely extend and reinforce the reductionism and individualism of biomedicine. The collected essays in To Fix or To Heal do more than document the persistence of reductionist approaches and the attendant extension of medicalization to more and more aspects of our lives. The contributors also shed valuable light on why reductionism has persisted and why more holistic models, incorporating social and environmental factors, have gained so little traction. The contributors examine the moral appeal of reductionism, the larger rationalist dream of technological mastery, the growing valuation of health, and the enshrining of individual responsibility as the seemingly non-coercive means of intervention and control. This paradigm-challenging volume advances new lines of criticism of our dominant medical regime, even while proposing ways of bringing medical practice, bioethics, and public health more closely into line with their original goals. Precisely because of the centrality of the biomedical approach to our society, the contributors argue, challenging the reductionist model and its ever-widening effects is perhaps the best way to press for a much-needed renewal of our ethical and political discourse.

Do doctors fix patients? Or do they heal them? For all of modern medicine’s many successes, discontent with the quality of patient care has combined with a host of new developments, from aging populations to the resurgence of infectious diseases, which challenge medicine’s overreliance on narrowly mechanistic and technical methods of explanation and intervention, or “fixing’ patients. The need for a better balance, for more humane “healing” rationales and practices that attend to the social and environmental aspects of health and illness and the experiencing person, is more urgent than ever. Yet, in public health and bioethics, the fields best positioned to offer countervailing values and orientations, the dominant approaches largely extend and reinforce the reductionism and individualism of biomedicine. The collected essays in To Fix or To Heal do more than document the persistence of reductionist approaches and the attendant extension of medicalization to more and more aspects of our lives. The contributors also shed valuable light on why reductionism has persisted and why more holistic models, incorporating social and environmental factors, have gained so little traction. The contributors examine the moral appeal of reductionism, the larger rationalist dream of technological mastery, the growing valuation of health, and the enshrining of individual responsibility as the seemingly non-coercive means of intervention and control. This paradigm-challenging volume advances new lines of criticism of our dominant medical regime, even while proposing ways of bringing medical practice, bioethics, and public health more closely into line with their original goals. Precisely because of the centrality of the biomedical approach to our society, the contributors argue, challenging the reductionist model and its ever-widening effects is perhaps the best way to press for a much-needed renewal of our ethical and political discourse.

Imagine if we treated broken hearts with the same respect and concern we have for broken arms? Psychologist Guy Winch urges us to rethink the way we deal with emotional pain, offering warm, wise, and witty advice for the broken-hearted. Real heartbreak is unmistakable. We think of nothing else. We feel nothing else. We care about nothing else. Yet while we wouldn’t expect someone to return to daily activities immediately after suffering a broken limb, heartbroken people are expected to function normally in their lives, despite the emotional pain they feel. Now psychologist Guy Winch imagines how different things would be if we paid more attention to this unique emotion—if only we can understand how heartbreak works, we can begin to fix it. Through compelling research and new scientific studies, Winch reveals how and why heartbreak impacts our brain and our behavior in dramatic and unexpected ways, regardless of our age. Emotional pain lowers our ability to reason, to think creatively, to problem solve, and to function at our best. In How to Fix a Broken Heart he focuses on two types of emotional pain—romantic heartbreak and the heartbreak that results from the loss of a cherished pet. These experiences are both accompanied by severe grief responses, yet they are not deemed as important as, for example, a formal divorce or the loss of a close relative. As a result, we are often deprived of the recognition, support, and compassion afforded to those whose heartbreak is considered more significant. Our heart might be broken, but we do not have to break with it. Winch reveals that recovering from heartbreak always starts with a decision, a determination to move on when our mind is fighting to keep us stuck. We can take control of our lives and our minds and put ourselves on the path to healing. Winch offers a toolkit on how to handle and cope with a broken heart and how to, eventually, move on.

Dr Cabot’s new eBook “ULTIMATE GUT HEALTH – How to Fix Your Gut Problems” brings you the latest information on how to improve your gut. The father of medicine Hippocrates told us that all diseases begin in the gut and it is true you cannot be healthy without a healthy gut. This groundbreaking book covers all gut problems and shows you how to reduce gut inflammation, get your gut bacteria in balance, eradicate parasites, improve digestion and reduce intestinal toxicity.

Presents evidence from medical journals that beliefs, thoughts, and feelings can cure the body and shows readers how to apply this knowledge in their own lives. -- provided by publisher.

Here’s the simple truth about Hashimoto’s: It’s way more than a thyroid problem. And even though it’s an autoimmune disease, it’s also way more than an immune system problem. Over time, it progressively becomes a body-wide disorder. Most people are familiar with the common hypothyroid symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, sensitivity to cold, hair loss, and constipation. But what many people don’t seem to understand is that many Hashimoto’s patients also have anxiety and depression, acid reflux, blood sugar imbalances like hypoglycemia and insulin resistance, intestinal permeability, anemia, food intolerances, and much more. This is not coincidence. It is all caused by repeated patterns of one system of the body breaking down and bringing other systems down with it. This causes vicious cycles that lead to the breakdown of the gut, the brain, the adrenals, the stomach, the gall bladder, the liver and every other major organ in the body. How to Heal Hashimoto’s offers a practical, easy-to-follow approach that treats the whole body, by figuring out what is breaking down and then developing a plan for fixing it. Using an autoimmune diet, lifestyle changes like meditation and qi gong, and other natural interventions, Marc Ryan shows you how to transform these vicious cycles into positive healing momentum —thereby allowing the body to return to balance. Get ready to take charge of your health and reclaim your life!

Most of us are no strangers to health problems, illness, or pain, but what if there's a solution to restore our well-being that doesn't involve drugs, surgery, or other medical procedures? Well, there is, and you'll find it within your own body. That's right! Your body has a built-in capacity to heal itself-a remarkable system of self-repair that works day in and day out-and improving its ability to heal is within your control. Yet most people don't fully grasp the body's incredible power to heal itself, largely because traditional medicine has led us to believe that health comes from the outside in and not from the inside out. Did you know, for example, that approximately 50 percent of all illnesses, when left alone, will eventually heal themselves? If you choose to take care of your body every day, it will reward you a thousand times over-improving your odds against everything from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes; to arthritis, allergies, colds, late-winter flu, and more. Remember, you have the power to be and stay healthy because healing truly comes from within. The Power of Self-Healing will help you accomplish all this and more!